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Teller County

 

Some Statistics About Teller County

Teller County, which was formed in 1899, is immediately west of Colorado Springs and is located in the geographic center of Colorado.  Teller County is in the mountains with elevations ranging from 8,000 feet to 14,000 (Pikes Peak).  Teller County encompasses about 559 square miles.

  • Registered voters in Teller County approximately:
  • Demographics
    • Approximately 22,000 residents
    • Approximately 12,000 housing units
    • 62% live in unincorporated areas
    • 8.7% of residents are over 65
    • 95% white; 4% Hispanic; 1% all others
    • 36% of households have children under age 18
    • Average Household Income $60,000

     

  • Teller County Jobs by Industry
    • 23% Restaurants & Lodging
    • 18% Government
    • 14% Entertainment/Gaming
    • 10% Retail businesses
    • 5% Mining
    • 5% Construction
    • 5% Real Estate, Finance, Insurance
    • 4% Health Care
    • 3% Professional/Technical
    • 36% of jobs in Teller County are tourism related
    • 72% of adult population in Teller County is working
    • Unemployment rate is about 5%
    • 59% of workers who live in Teller County commute outside Teller county to work (mean one-way travel time is 30 minutes)
    • 23% of businesses in Teller County are owned by women

     

On-Line Telephone Directories

Towns in Teller County

   
    Short Line Railroad to Cripple Creek

 

 Some Teller County HistoryHenry Teller.  Teller County is named after Colorado’s first and longest serving (24 years) U.S. Senator, Henry Moore Teller.  He was Colorado’s first US Senator (a Republican) from 1876 to 1882.  He served as the Secretary of Interior between 1882 and 1885.  He was elected again to be a US Senator (this time as a Democrat) from 1885 to 1909.Teller County was formed from the western portion of El Paso and the northern portion of Fremont counties and officially became a County on March 23rd, 1899.The first permanent settlement in Teller County occurred around 1870 in Divide, so named because the Arkansas and South Platte watershed divide in this area. Woodland Park, originally called Manitou Park, was laid out along the Midland Railroad tracks and was popular with recovering tuberculosis patients.  Woodland Park and Divide later provided lumber (5 sawmills operated in Woodland Park at one point), potatoes, lettuce and ice cut from area ponds to supply gold mining operations in Cripple Creek and Victor.

Gold.  In 1890, gold was discovered by Bob Womack in Cripple Creek. By 1900 more than 50,000 people lived in and around Cripple Creek, Victor, Goldfield and other towns that have since disappeared (Elkton, Altman, Independence, Anaconda, Gillette, Cameron, Beaver Park, Arequa and Lawrence).

The Cripple Creek District produced about 23 million ounces of gold.  By comparison, the California and Alaskan gold rushes produced about 24.4 (1848-1859) and 29.9 (all of Alaska) million ounces, respectively. Gold is still mined in Teller County by the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Company, a joint venture of Anglo Gold Ashanti (a South African company) and Golden Cycle (a long-time Teller county company). 

Notable residents who made their home in the Teller County gold fields include:

 

  • Ralph Carr — Republican Governor of Colorado (1939-1943) grew up in Cripple Creek.  He opposed the internment of Japanese Americans in World War II, which cost him his political career.
  • Jimmie Burns — owned the Portland mine and the Short Line Railroad that ran on the Gold Camp Road between Cripple Creek and Colorado Springs.
  • Charles Tutt — partner of Spencer Penrose, created the Bingham Canyon Copper open-pit mine in Utah.

 

  • Lowell Thomas — radio journalist raised in Victor. Rode with Lawrence of Arabia in World War I.
  • Carlton Brothers — owned Golden Cycle Corporation that milled gold, the Midland Railroad that operated on Ute Pass, and formed the Holly Sugar Company.